Walking by the Spirit

[Christsfreeservant]

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:16-24 ESV)​

So many professers of faith in Jesus Christ here in America today are still deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord in these various ways mentioned here in this passage of Scripture. They are still addicted to sexual immorality, sensuality, idolatry, fits of rage, envy, drunkenness, and the like. Yet they are convinced that their salvation is secure because they make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and/or they will have all kinds of excuses for why they cannot live a morally pure life in obedience to the Lord Jesus.

And so this passage of Scripture deals with those situations.

For those of you who are full of excuses for why you cannot live morally pure, honest, and faithful lives, and so you continue in deliberate and habitual sin, the solution is that you must walk (in conduct, in practice) by the Spirit (and not according to the flesh), and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For those who continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord are not walking by the Spirit, but they are still walking according to the flesh, to please the passions of the flesh.

And this is because their lives are not under Holy Spirit control but they are still under the control of the flesh. Their lives are not surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, and they are not living in submission to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master). For they have not truly died with Christ to sin, and they are not daily dying to sin and living to God and to his righteousness. And they are not walking in obedience to his commands and following him wherever he leads them, for they are still in control over their own lives.

And thus many of them are doing what they call “struggling” with sin, which usually means that they are habitually yielding to the flesh and giving in to the desires of the flesh and they are doing the exact opposite of what they know that they should be doing. But this will go on in the lives of many who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who are convinced that their sinful addiction will not impact their relationship with God and their salvation and their hope of eternal life with God. So this passage deals with that, too.

Not only does this let us know that the way out of sinful addiction is for us to surrender our lives over to the Lord to walk in his ways, and in his truth, but it lets us know clearly that if sins such as these are what we practice (our habit) and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess or we are convinced of that we believe about Jesus in our hearts. And so this serves as a warning to us to not let sin overtake us but to follow the ways of God.

And then if we are walking by the Spirit, and no longer according to the flesh, and we are living to please our Lord, and not our flesh, and sin is no longer our practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord, then our lives should reflect the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. For those who truly belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires and they have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, don’t let the fear of man or the influence of (humans) keep you from obeying the Lord. Don’t let what others do impact what you do and how you live. And if you are walking by the Spirit and not according to the flesh, do not fear what other humans might do to you or say about you just because they don’t like it that you are no longer walking in sin but that you are now living holy and godly lives in the power of God for his will. Just keep obeying the Lord and keep sharing your testimony of God’s saving grace.

Why Are You Afraid?

An Original Work / December 5, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures

Do not be afraid.
Your Lord is always by your side.
Serve the Lord in righteousness
Before Him all your days.

Those who hate the light
Will not come to the Lord.
They fear their deeds
Might be noticed.
So, they hate the light,
And they embrace the night.

Do not be afraid,
Although your enemy attacks.
Dare to share your testimony
Of God’s saving grace.

Do not fear their threats,
But honor Christ, your Lord.
Be prepared to give an answer
For the hope you have,
With gentleness; respect.

Why are you afraid?
For all that’s hidden will be shown.
What I tell you, speak in daylight.
Let the truth be known.

Do not be afraid
Of those who’ll take your life.
Fear the Lord with understanding.
Trust Him with your life,
And give not up to strife.

Do not be afraid.
Take courage, it is I, your Lord.
Bow before Me; now adore Me.
Oh, why do you doubt?

Listen to the Lord.
Get up and bear His name!
Run and tell the world He loves them.
Jesus came to save.
Give Him your all today.

 

[oikonomia]

And thus many of them are doing what they call “struggling” with sin, which usually means that they are habitually yielding to the flesh and giving in to the desires of the flesh and they are doing the exact opposite of what they know that they should be doing. But this will go on in the lives of many who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who are convinced that their sinful addiction will not impact their relationship with God and their salvation and their hope of eternal life with God. So this passage deals with that, too.​

So we need some practical help. How can we get into Walking by the Spirit ?
I hope to contribute some practical helps.

Perhaps high on the list is - Start Every Day With a Time With the Lord.

Walk by the Spirit for the rest of my life is a hard program.
Walking TODAY by the Spirit is where to start.

Yesterday should be under the blood of Jesus. Yesterday is gone.
Tomorrow is not here yet. We actually only have TODAY.
Some of the best advice we can follow to learn to walk by the Spirit is to begin each day with the Lord.

When does your day start? People's days start at different times.
The idea is to give your first transactions of that day to God.
You have His word. You have your mouth. You have your praying spirit.
Use the three at the TOP of each day with a time consecrated to enjoy God.

You can start with a few minutes. A few minutes is better than nothing.
You can grow to extend the time to however long you are able.
What can you do during this time?

Read His word. I do not mean ten chapters. I mean maybe one of the New Testament. (John or Luke or Romans is good for beginners)
I mean maybe two or three of the Old Testament. (Psalms may be a good start for beginners)
Do not JUST read. With your reading add - confesssion of known sins and request for cleansing in the blood of Jesus.
Do not JUST read. With your reading add some thanksgiving, some praise, some telling the Lord Jesus you love Him.
With your reading add forgiveness of offenses. If you don't feel forgiving ask Christ within you to do the forgiving.

With your reading - muse over what you read. Prayerfully. . . PRAYERFULLY meditate over what you read.
Pray over what you read. Repeat certain portions of what you read which seem to impress you more personally.
Digest and nourishes your innermost being with His word mixing it with praise, thanksgivng, petition, requests according to His will.

Start each day with Jesus Christ. Put the phone away. Get away from the computer if it distracts you.
The top portion of your typical day give to enjoying God.
A day at a time. A day at a time. This is how we learn to Walk by the Spirit.

 

[oikonomia]

So "struggling" with sin is just the thing you do not want to get into.
greting your teeth and trying harder and harder to "struggle" again your sinning is not the thing.

It is TAKING CHRIST as the one to live in you.
It is taking Jesus Christ as everything you need. EVERYTHING.

"Lord Jesus, YOU are my love for God.
Lord Jesus, YOU are the only consecration to God I have.
Lord Jesus, YOU are my endurance, my strength, my resistance is none other than YOU Yourself Lord Jesus."

In the last post I emphasized how we have begin each day with a time with the Lord.
"I am going to just live for God from now on for the rest of my life!!" is hard to do.

The Christian life is mostly not in how you act. It is in how you REACT.
And you have to learn to start each day with a good . . . "breakfast" of feeding on the living word in the presence of the Lord.
You have to eat Him. I said you have to EAT Him, Himself.

No, I didn't say you have to eat Him on my own. Jesus Christ said we have to EAT Him. I am just repeating what Jesus taught.

John 6:57 - As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

He is teaching His followers to do exactly what He did in relation to His Father.
He lived not by His own goodness, not by His own strength, even though He was a perfect man, He did not live by that.
He lived moment by moment in the realm, in the sphere of His living Father.

He kept taking in the life of His Father. Now He says we must do the same in relation to Him.

As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

So each morning, or each beginning of your day whenever your day beginning is, set aside that time for EATING the Lord
Jesus. You have the Word of God. You have your mouth. You have your praying organ - your spirit.

We are weak because enjoy eating the Lord Jesus.
We are weak before temptation because we do not have an adaquate "breakfast" in eating the Lord Jesus.
If we want to live by Him we have to learn to EAT Him. That is ENJOY taking Him IN.

 

[oikonomia]

​

Why Are You Afraid?

An Original Work / December 5, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures

Do not be afraid.
Your Lord is always by your side.
Serve the Lord in righteousness
Before Him all your days.

Amen. The Victor over the world lives in the innermost spiritual being of the Christian.
He is more than at our side. He is mingled with us. He is JOINED to us as "one spirit."

"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:16)

Those who hate the light
Will not come to the Lord.
They fear their deeds
Might be noticed.
So, they hate the light,
And they embrace the night.

Sometimes we may not like the light. But there is One within us who loves light and is light.
So we pray - "Lord Jesus, I don't like the light of God on my sin. But Lord YOU live within me.
Lord Jesus YOU Love the light for me. Lord You being me into the light with You. You dwell in light. I take YOU Lord Jesus as
even my willingness to come to the light."

We have to learn to take Christ for whatever we lack.
We have to learn Paul's secret - It is no longer I that live but it is Christ that lives within me.

Do not be afraid,
Although your enemy attacks.
Dare to share your testimony
Of God’s saving grace.

Amen. Jesus Christ has proved the enemy incompetent, weak, powerless, DEFEATED. Jesus has done that.
Jesus has made an open display of Satan as the eternal loser.
Christ is the eternal Overcomer and eternal Victor.

You and I? We are nothing but failures in ourselves.
We have to take Christ as our history, our legacy, our past, our prestent, our everything.

"Our life's a failure at its best. Only His life can stand the test.
His life brings full salvation."

Do not fear their threats,
But honor Christ, your Lord.
Be prepared to give an answer
For the hope you have,
With gentleness; respect.

Amen. It is the only way.
We have nothing and can do nothing.
The self strong - can do nothing.
The self weak - they can do nothing.

None of us in ourselves are worth anything except to go to the lake of fire.
We HAVE Christ to be our life, our peace with God, our destiny, and our destination.

It is not that we do not have enough Christ.
It is that we have too many things other than Christ." W.N. [paraphrased from memory]

Why are you afraid?
For all that’s hidden will be shown.
What I tell you, speak in daylight.
Let the truth be known.

This is a good hymn.
It is Satan that should be afraid. John has already SEEN him in the lake of fire.
As far as God transcendent is concerned, Satan is already there in abject total eternal defeat.

Tell him so! And proclaim in each morning - Jesus is Lord. Jesus the Victor lives in me. Jesus is my life.

Do not be afraid
Of those who’ll take your life.
Fear the Lord with understanding.
Trust Him with your life,
And give not up to strife.

Do not be afraid.
Take courage, it is I, your Lord.
Bow before Me; now adore Me.
Oh, why do you doubt?

This is a good song. It tells the truth. Christ is the Victor.
Christ is still the conqueror over every foe.
And Christ is the Spirit living in our innermost being - we are FIRMLY attached to the Christ.
But the One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God, (2 Cor. 1:21)

He has been joined to us as one interwoven and mingled spirit.
It is Him within us that we have to turn to and tape into.
He is within as a PLEDGE. He is within as a preview of our eternal enjoyment.
We have the Spirit of Christ as a foretaste and pledged sealing us for a fuller and fullest enjoyment of God to come.

But the One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God,
He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. (vs. 21,22)